Microsoft Xbox Without a Disc Drive?

Microsoft is not telling when the new Xbox will be released — certainly not in 2012 — yet newly surfaced rumors say the next Xbox will not feature a disc drive, according to MCV .

The source that leaked this news made it under “the strictest NDA” ever, which may mean that it’s someone inside Microsoft or someone working on this new Xbox console.

If indeed there will be no disk drive, the Xbox is expected to offer plenty of solid-state card storage compatibility. This would mean two things: Xbox games will come on solid state cards or you have to download the games from Internet and transfer them to a solid state card. For some gamers, downloading a game from Internet could be a huge blow since it would require a fast Internet connection. Otherwise, they’ll end up waiting days to download a game that has 10 Gb.

The MVC website claims that the next-generation Xbox was confirmed for a 2013 launch. I don’t know if this is true or not, but I guess we will see this during the next E3 conference. There have been several rumors indicating that Xbox 720 graphics processing power will be six times higher than its predecessor, Xbox 360.

Microsoft released a statement, saying that they don’t comment on rumours.

Xbox 360 has found new ways to extend its lifecycle like introducing the world to controller-free experiences with Kinect and re-inventing the console with a new dashboard and new entertainment content partnerships. We are always thinking about what is next for our platform and how to continue to defy the lifecycle convention. Beyond that we do not comment on rumors or speculation.